Public Memory

Demolition

Public Memory is a mixture of damaged and dubbed-out percussion, unfurling synths and
sparse sampling - all strung together by producer Robert Toher's spectral tenor. The
project's sophomore LP, Demolition follows 2017's Veil of Counsel EP and 2016's
Wuthering Drum LP with cinematic fortitude. While Public Memory's prominent
krautrock and trip-hop rhythms are represented here, Demolition explores a greater
range of tempos and an expanse of alien emotions with layers of electronic drums, live
drums, Korg synths and samples from nature. Themes of rebirth and reflection imbue
the album's atmosphere, rich in tape delay, spring reverb, and textures that conjure a sci
fi and supernatural narrative. Opener "The Line" sets the album in motion with a driving
energy and introspective unease, as if estranged from the world it was created in. A
meditation on impending collapse, "Red Rainbow" begins with an arpeggiated melody that
hints at a sense of dread. Like the darkness of night descends, the track unfolds with
haunting atmospherics and howling synths, finishing with an unexpected climax that
ominously builds until at last it falls apart, quickly, softly, without incident. The
slowtempoed "Aegis" reflects on the banal reality of love lost, with shuffling rhythms,
lingering inflections and a growling synth at its core. Toher's adept use of space and
tension articulates the world of Demolition as eerie, emotive, and above all, narcotic.
Each track is an existential procession. "Turning out the lights on your illusion," Toher
sings to close the album, accepting that change is an inescapable condition of being.